"49 FiHon Fashion ...
now exists at Filton a runway capable of serving any
aircraft, either in existence or currently envisaged,
both as regards landing weight and take-off run.
It may be apposite to reiterate a few of the more
factual details of the Brabazon I. Accommodation is
provided for 70 to 100 sleeping passengers or 120
sitting passengers, plus a crew of 12, including 5 stewards.
The wing span is 230ft and the fuselage length 177ft. The
first aircraft, as shown in the accompanying photographs,
is powered by eight coupled Centaurus XX i8-cylinder,
sleeve-valve, air-cooled engines, giving a total maximum
output of 20,400 b.h.p., each pair of engines driving through
a common reduction gear box serving the Rotol co-axial
airscrews. The seconcl aircraft will be powered by eight
Proteus gas turbines, driving co-axial airscrews through
reduction gears of design essentially similar to, yet differ-
ing in detail from those used with the Centaurus engines.
rHIS series of photographs taken recently by Flight's W. McLaren,admirably portrays the beautiful form and the salient features of
the prototype Brabazon. That the aircraft is of high aerodynamic
efficiency is quite patent, whilst those items of detail design which are
apparent in some of the illustrations display the intrinsic quality which
characterizes the machine as a whole. M the top of the opposite page,
the Brabazon can be seen to the left of a B.O.A.C. Constellation, Filton
having now become the Corporation's maintenance base for the North
Atlantic service. It is worth noting that the shrouded mass balances
which can be seen on the Brabazon control surfaces are a precautionary
measure against the possibility of flutter which might occur with
aeration of the hydraulic powered-control system. These may well be
deleted after experience had been gained from the initial flight trials.